{"id":1778563,"date":"2026-02-18T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1778563"},"modified":"2026-02-18T15:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T12:00:17","slug":"what-elena-rybakina-said-before-retiring-at-dubai-championships-as-reason-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1778563","title":{"rendered":"What Elena Rybakina said before retiring at Dubai Championships as reason revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">What Elena Rybakina said before retiring at Dubai Championships as reason revealed<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/ewan-west\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Ewan West                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"18 Feb 2026 3:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"18 Feb 2026 3:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1771426817\"><br \/>\n                            18 Feb 2026 3:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/why-elena-rybakina-withdrew-dubai-championships-2026\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" aria-label=\"Share to facebook\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tennis365.com%2Ftennis-news%2Fwhy-elena-rybakina-withdrew-dubai-championships-2026\" class=\"!text-info hover:!text-brand\" 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           <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a class=\"!text-share-icon hover:!text-share-icon-active flex items-center justify-center\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" aria-label=\"Follow Tennis365 on Google Search\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"What Elena Rybakina said before retiring at Dubai Championships as reason revealed\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Elena-Rybakina-physio-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Elena Rybakina at the Dubai Championships\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Elena Rybakina speaks with the physio                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\">\n<p>Elena Rybakina was the top seed and favourite to win the 2026 Dubai Championships, but she is the latest star to withdraw the event.<\/p>\n<p>In her third round match against Antonia Ruzic, Rybakina retired after she was broken in the first game of the third set, with the score 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 in her Croatian opponent\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n<p>The match was a struggle from the start for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/elena-rybakina\">Rybakina<\/a>, who lost her serve in the opening game. She twice battled back from a break down to win the opening set after she hit five double faults and saved seven of the nine break points she faced.<\/p>\n<p>Ruzic, the world No 67, secured the only break of the second set and broke Rybakina for the fourth time in the match at the start of the third set.<\/p>\n<p>Rybakina then called for the physio, and the world No 3 was heard saying she was suffering from nausea and pain in her legs before revealing she had decided not to continue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rybakina:<\/strong> \u201cI have pain in the legs\u2026 [and] just sick, like nausea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Physio:<\/strong> \u201cYou haven\u2019t had anything [to eat] this morning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rybakina:<\/strong> No, I ate, but in the morning\u2026 it was just a heavy head, I didn\u2019t sleep well from yesterday. So I\u2019m going to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Physio:<\/strong> \u201cDo you want us to do any assessment?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rybakina:<\/strong> \u201cNo, because I know what it is, it\u2019s just really tiredness and pain in the legs. So I don\u2019t see the reason to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Physio:<\/strong> \u201cThat\u2019s absolutely fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/wta-rankings-why-elena-rybakinas-dubai-retirement-benefits-iga-swiatek\"><strong>WTA Rankings: Why Elena Rybakina\u2019s Dubai retirement benefits Iga Swiatek<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/prize-money-elena-rybakina-aryna-sabalenka-iga-swiatek-coco-gauff-karolina-muchova-2026\"><strong>Prize money earned by Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Karolina Muchova in 2026<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ruzic, who is competing as a lucky loser after she was beaten in qualifying, will play world No 9 Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n<p>Rybakina is the fifth player to pull out of the Dubai Championships mid-match, while three other players have given walkovers.<\/p>\n<p>There were also 11 players, including Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, who withdrew before the draw was made, and a further five who pulled out after the draw but before their first match.<\/p>\n<p>Rybakina was playing her fourth tournament of the 2026 season and second in as many weeks after she reached the quarter-finals at the Qatar Open last week.<\/p>\n<p>The Kazakh won the Australian Open at the end of January after reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 in Brisbane in her first event of the year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/dubai-tennis-championships-withdrawals-retirements-field-wta-1000-decimated\">Dubai Tennis Championships withdrawals and retirements: Field at WTA 1000 event decimated<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Elena Rybakina said before retiring at Dubai Championships as reason revealed Ewan West 18 Feb 2026 3:00 PM Elena Rybakina speaks with the physio Elena Rybakina was the top seed and favourite to win the 2026 Dubai Championships, but she is the latest star to withdraw the event. In her third round match against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1778563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1778563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1778563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1778563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1778563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}